A Stranger in Fiction
by Dixie-Biscuit
Summary: A young woman finds herself in Gotham City, thinking it a dream until a frightful fall. She has to use her Batman knowledge to survive. What happens when she chooses to take matters into her own hands and do what the Dark Knight couldn't? kill the Gotham rouges. Will she prevail? become a villain herself? or die? *cover art made by me*
1. It's Real

Batman and friends belong to their respectable owners :)

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I was falling. At least, that's what it felt like. I couldn't see anything and a cool breeze swam through me. I heard noises, sirens, distant voices, very distant.

It was then a harsh brightness burned into my eyes with the swooping sound of spinning blades as company, like a helicopter. No. Not like a helicopter, it is a helicopter. My eyes tore open unwillingly, feeling crusted as if coming out of sleep, something I thought I was doing at the moment- sleeping I mean, not waking up. I was supposed to be was still dark, but I can distinguish buildings both big and small fading into a distant landscape of water beyond a harbor. Where was I?

I looked down and panic heaved into my chest, y'know the kind when you're falling from a great height at a great speed like on those amusement park rides? Where you can swear your heart was going to make bail through your mouth along with everything else in there? Yeah that feeling, and there's a reason for it to. That falling feeling I said, I wasn't falling. I am completely leveled…on a top a ledge, on a frighteningly tall building. My body being swayed side to side by the accompanying high winds. Could I move? No. Despite wanting to, I guess my body was in a moment of shock.

My attention was caught by the helicopter I had presumed before, it was circling and the search light fixed on me as if I were to jump. Could this be the situation? Those voices, I look down and acknowledge blue, white, and red lights flashing. Again I ask myself.

"Where am I?"

"On top of Wayne Tech Enterprises"

There is it again, that panic, that prickly shudder that licks up your spine and makes your head feel dizzy.

I twist my head, half expecting an officer and the other half expecting…I don't know what, but I wasn't expecting him. Not at all. Not ever because…he isn't real. I ask anyway knowing the answer.

" And who?..."

I don't finish, my mouth becomes unnaturally dry and my hands begin to stiffen from lack of motion.

Batman, is what he says not waiting for me to decide whether to finish my question. Of course he would call himself Batman. He was after all dressed as the Batman, what else would he call himself? He is what he is dressed as, which is the Batman. This guy decked out in full body armor with cape and cowl, standing across from me in all his dark knight glory. My head hurts and I'm rambling in my mind, isn't it strange when having these little personal moments it feels like hours, but out there it's been merely seconds.

I ask another daring question.

"What City?"

He must think me a fool at this moment

"Gotham"

I don't know what else to say and he's giving me a heavy glare. Probably thinks I'm a crook with a master plan, poor paranoid bastard. I start laughing because it's all so ridiculous; wanna know why I've been relatively calm aside from the scare of being on a ledge?

It isn't real. I said I should be sleeping and I am! This, and take note I gesture with my arms to this city made of nightmares and metal, is all a dream. I remember getting set early for the nights rest as the new semester started tomorrow. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, threw on shorts and an oversized shirt and dove under the blankets. Moments of darkness later I emerge in this city. Gotham City, its dark knight included like the toy in a happy meal.

I'm fully dressed in what I had worn the previous day: long sleeved teal off shoulder blouse whose hem can stretch to mid-thigh though I keep it ruffled to my hips, dark denim shorts and black floral pattern leggings complete with brown zorrba boots. Yeah, it catches stares, not uncommon attire, but not common among my community either. Call me a whore, but I love them leggings.

So you see this has to be a dream, there is no other explanation.

"You know, for a second I thought this was all real"

I have a grin that could rival the Joker.

"This city, the sounds, the air. Brrrr, it's cold! Must've left the windows open"

I rub my hands along my arms then I wave to the helicopter still hovering about.

"This is amazing! I've always heard of people lucid dreaming, surprised I'm still here actually" I mutter the last line more to myself than to the bat.

"Usually people wake up when they know they're dreaming…"

Batman takes a steady step forward.

"You think you're dreaming?" His voice doesn't sound as ridiculous as the movie. It's deep and not so gurgle sounding. He actually sounds intimidating and not like some guy with throat cancer.

"Of course! Last thing I know was going to bed"

"Could be sleepwalki-"

"I don't sleepwalk"

There are a few second of intense staring. My vision blurs as I retract to the recess of my mind once more. Lucid dream or not, real or not I was getting that awkward sensation and maybe…maybe even a little scared. There is a moment in a situation where you adorn the sense of foreboding, the realization of truth from unspoken lips.

Revelation was in his stare.

Jest was gone from my being and neurosis took its place. I wanted to jump to get away.

I leer over overseeing all below me. My heart is accelerating and urge to cry is insistent.

"I can help you… you don't need to do this"

I turn to him, a little alarmed at the shortened distance between us.

"You think I'm gonna jump". It's a Statement not a question.

"Aren't you?"

Risky to ask such a thing to someone in my position.

"Look this has been…an experience for lack of better words, but, I need to wake up"

"This isn't a dream. You have to listen! You jump off that ledge and you WILL die!"

My eyes are glossy now as I shake my head quickly side-to-side. I am contradicting myself, but I shouldn't! I know what's real! This is like a psychological mind-fuck like the Matrix or Inception. I don't like this, I want to wake up!

"Shut up! I want to wake up! NO! don't. Don't come any closer! I want to wake up, I just want to wake up. Don't you see? I must jump. You're confusing me! You're just part of a fantasy world illustrated in my head. You're not real! You're a comic book character you hear me!? A fictitious being!"

I broke into a crying, over emotional havoc. This was too stressful.

"GOD! Go AWAY! Dammit!" I cursed at that damn helicopter, swatting my arm towards it as if it would make it go away. The frantic motion caused unbalance and I lost my footing.

I remember yelping in terror, eyes wide, chest tightening. There was regret, I didn't want to jump anymore, I didn't want to die. There was something wrong here and it took until the end of my life here to realize that. That this was real and not a dream.

Her body slammed violently to the side of the building punching air out her lungs. She would have a throbbing headache, but at least she wasn't falling anymore. She looks up to Batman, his torso half over the ledge and a firm grip on a thin wrist. There will be a bruise.

He hauled her over to rooftop with ease; she was shaking and sobbing, processing over what just happened and registering the pain of her body. She clung to his arm not letting go, whispering mumbles of apologies and confusion. She redirects her arms around Batman's neck as one arm grips around her torso. The other he fumbles about his belt for a device with cable. Guaranteeing that she was out of harm's way, the knight proceeded to land them on the street.

The first to greet them was a haggard looking man. Features soft, kind, and with the fatherly-like concern etched wrinkles of stress and long hours. Known to many as an honest cop he's given up more than the city could ever know, almost as much as the bat himself. This honest cop was called Jim Gordon, Commissioner in the GCPD.

"oh thank god" Jim rasped, whole hand combing through his sweat matted hair. "I thought for sure-" he doesn't finish and shakes his head. Instead asking, "how's the girl?".

" Shaken". Is all Batman says.

"Standing on a ledge that high? Who wouldn't? Well…besides you"

The young woman was in a daze. The past events rewinding through her head trying to understand, but someone's trying to contact her. The fog clears and she's faced with Jim, slouched with hands on bent knees.

"How ya doin' kid?"

"it's not a dream…". She sounds tranced and Jim furrows his brow.

The girl takes a slow step back from Batman to better gaze into the eyes of her first confronter.

"it's real" She deadpans.

"yes" says the man in cowl and cape. "it's real".

As if his word were the confirmation of a terrible sentence her eyes widen. Head slowly shaking left to right. "Why?" she whines, and the tears make an encore.

"What? What's going on?" demands the commissioner, there is panic where authority should stand.

"Stay calm, we'll sort this out". Batman tries to console, but he knows its effect is lacking. She was scared and so confused.

Commissioner Gordon stands by the sideline just as puzzled, "Sort what out? What's happened? She said it's not a dream, it's real. Batman what is she talking about?"

Two medics grasp the sobbing woman by the shoulders gently at first, but the struggles start: kicking, flailing and punching. Then the wails that turn to murderous screams insisting they let her go. It's a mental breakdown for all to see, it's mayhem in her head and suddenly it's bliss, it's lucid. The memories in her mind melting down like a Dali painting until the canvas is cleaned and all that's left is fading black.

The medics, now bruised and scratched from the ever brief one-sided brawl, had given their frantic patient a sedative. Now a mass of dead-weight, she is carried to the stretcher and hauled into the ambulance to be on route to Gotham's Hospital.

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A/N: Hope it's enjoyable so far. Not sure where it'll go, guess we'll both fins out along the way :)


	2. Royal Treatment

She felt groggy and heavy, why was she heavy? Are the lights off? Oh. No, her eyes are closed. She opens them with effort and they water from the sting of bright white. Great now she has a headache.

She feels cold now and violated, taking note of the hospital gown and instruments connecting from her body to the monitor next to the bed giving off a monotone *beep…beep…beep*. There's relief when she sees her clothes and boots on the counter across from her. Tearing the vital readers off unceremoniously, she slowly makes her way over to the neatly folded bundle of clothes, but oh god the floor is freezing! And finally she arrives- Oh, they washed them, well wasn't that nice of them. She looks nervously at the door, she should lock it, but she didn't want to make the seeming tedious travel. So, as quickly as her depleted state could allow, she put on her tights then her shorts, easy. Now for the top, the gown ripples around her feet. Over the head, one arm through, now the other, nice- no one managed to barge in while she was chang-*door opens* oooh crap! She gasped, frantically pulling her blouse over her exposed flesh.

"oh! I'm so sorry!" it was Commissioner Gordon, he turned around to give what little modesty was left.

"Um, done." I say meekly, adjusting my blouse to its proper form, now zipping up my boots, saving my feet from the ice floor.

Gordon's face is lightly flushed with embarrassment. Again he apologizes and says something about how he should have knocked before and how he was told I was asleep.

We're standing in a growing silence before he gesture for me to sit on the bed while he took a seat in a chair next to it.

With a warm smile he asks how I was doing, I smiled back, it was quite contagious.

"I feel a bit tired, how long was I sleeping"

"You slept the whole day, it's dark out now."

It was, feels like the same night that I…

"it's real…" I mutter. There's a heavy sadness and my eyes glaze over. I want to go home. This wasn't fun at all.

"You keep saying that, Batman said you called this a dream" He's staring intently waiting to be enlightened.

"I…" one tear and I swipe it before it hits my cheek. "It's just been a really off day for me today" I can't even keep eye contact. He pretends not to notice my silent cries and I'm grateful.

"I bet, you managed to get on top of Wayne Tech without any entry inside. Do you…"

"No" I know what he's asking and I honestly don't know, it scary not knowing. "I just want to go home".

"where do you live?"

I scoff a laugh, "not here, I don't belong here".

"Not in this city?"

"Not in this dimension"

The Commissioner didn't know what I meant; of course he wouldn't, so he starts interviewing me.

"We didn't find any records of you…at all. No birth certificate, no family, no school, bank accounts, jobs, it's like you don't exist"

What can I say that wouldn't make me sound like a candidate for the looney bin?

"You wouldn't believe me if I told ya"

He chuckles "Living in this city you hear a lot of things one wouldn't believe to be true but are. Unlikely circumstances are an occasional thing in Gotham".

Again he's smiling. Always smiling, why? Ugh, I'm not myself. It's that feeling when you're having the shittiest of days and life is just a bundle of joy for everyone else and it just pisses you off.

"Why don't we get a profile on you? Give you an identity so you're not walking around as miss anonymous" he pulls out a small notepad. "what's your name?"

"Mary Adler Dorrison"

"Mary Adler?"

I waved my hand, "My mom is a fan of Sherlock Holmes, read them growing up as did I, but I'd prefer to be called Maddie", mom…what was she doing now?

"how old are you Maddie?"

"24"

He's jotting down other information, my height, weight, features. Says we'll be taking a trip down the station to register my fingerprints, then an officer peeks his head I, something about needing to talk to him.

"I'll be right back, sit tight"

I'm left alone with my thoughts, In a way I've accepted the fact that this was real, but part of me still hoped I was being trolled or something. If I go back to where I was, I may find some way to get home. Yeah! This could work! I'm pumped with new found determination and make way for the door, cracking it open a tad. Gordon had his back turned and was talking with the officer in the middle of the hall quite a ways from my room, this was perfect, I could actually just mosey on outta here! Except…

"You're not thinking about leaving, are you _Maddie?_"

Of course, OF COURSE. What else would I expect from a comic realm? The Batman always perfect timing in the most predictable of scenarios. Doesn't mean to say he didn't scare the crap outta me!

"umm…" Suddenly my vocabulary bailed. Then I did something stupid, I did something cowardly.

I ran out the door

I heard Commissioner Gordon take note of my sprint, calling after me, but I kept running. Dodging people and mumbling apologies. I knew i would be caught, it's Batman! But I NEED to get outside at LEAST! I need to get to that building. I'll be home before I know it and I'll tell everyone about my crazy dream on facebook, will get a couple likes, then I'll sit back and wonder what I am doing with my life! All will be golden!

I don't know how, but I managed to get outside, being all a blur it was creepy how you're suddenly on autopilot.

I throw my hands in the air nonetheless in mock victory.

"Satisfied with your escape?"

Damnit…

"I actually was kinda" that came out snarkier than I meant it, I'm instantly belittled by his towering frame and soul shattering glare. "I mean y'know for a quick get away…and…whatnot".

"Running from something?"

Ohhhh ho ho, I know what he's doing. Trying to intimidate me into telling answers. He thinks I've got bad motives. Well…

" Running TO actually" I point to the beacon that is Wayne Tech, "to there".

"where you planned on jumping" accusation.

"I wasn't gonna jump! I mean, I was but then…"

"You found out it was real"

How many times have I heard that? feels like a rerun.

I bite my lower lip and furrow my brow as I pleaded.

" I just need to get to the top, see if I missed something that could take me home. Please, I'm not harming anyone!".

"Except yourself, you're not being rational. There was an unusual lightening storm, some blackouts, nothing more. No irregularities whatsoever, I would have traced any if there were. The only mystery is how you got to the top in the first place".

UGH! Come on! This guy. THIS guy was pissing me off. Why am I getting pissed off? What he's saying is truth; he's trying to help me-NO! he's just delaying me. That is it, y'know what I'm better than him, I know the past and what is to come. I, Me, am the know –it- all of this universe!

"I'm starting to get irritated" I tell the bat. "leave me to my merry ways or I'll bring you down"

Is that a smirk on his lips?

"I highly doubt that, I think you've been left worse off than I thought"

Now I smirk. "it's a simple request, you take me to the Wayne building and I won't tell your dirty little secret. If there's anything society loves about a hero, it's watching him break down to a pitiful mess, just like them. Sad really, taking glee where others fall, it's a perverse satisfaction because society can't deal with someone being above them."

I pretend to inspect my nails. Think I'm being confident. Pfft yeah right, I'm shaking and not because it's cold. My heart is beating quicker than a hummingbird and my words quivered, but that doesn't make my threat anything less than it is. I'm no imposing force of authority, but I get my message out and he's staring, no, glaring at me. Mouth a flat line and eyes of blue steel peeling the layers of a façade to call a bluff. Too bad he won't find one, what he sees is what it is. I'm a cowardly wreck and nothing is staged. He's looking for a bluff that never was.

"Fine". He drawls. I win bitch.

With a motion to his belt, the Batmobile makes its entrance, its glossy frame tells of a recent waxing. Its sleek design built for speed and agility through narrow obstacles. The boosters in the back give the vehicle a soft halo of red. Black and red, never have I seen anything so menacing.

With a pop of the roof Batman gets in and instructs me to do the same and with that we were on our way.

I'm not a very social person to begin with, but even THIS silence was overbearing. I could tell by that lower exposure of his face that he was less than happy on this outcome. Yup, those are definitely his brooding lips.

"Why don't you put a stop to the villain's tirade?" I ask

"What?"

"Why don't you stop the criminals? For good."

"I do stop them. They're sent to Arkham or Blackgate and that's that".

"yeah, 'till they break out again…" Damn aren't I snarky tonight.

"I do what needs to be done". Ohhh getting a little defensive are we?

"Yeah, but you can do SOOO much more. Permanently! You can stop them permanently! Just kill 'em!".

Umm, ok I admit, when on a ramble I don't really think it through. I didn't mean to be so…giddy about killing people like I'm describing the acts for a surprise birthday party. Kind of similar when you're telling someone to go to hell, it's just a means of getting under people's skin. But if we really had the incomprehensible idea of HELL, if we actually knew what it was we were wishing…we wouldn't wish it on our worst enemies.

His hand visibly tighten on the wheel, you can hear the leather squeal under his grip. It's a sensitive topic, I've challenged his morals.

The air is thick and he says nothing. I shrink into my seat.

"just saying, they hurt and murder and destroy so many lives…you've spared them for years and the casualties get worse. You're just helping them learn from mistakes and improve!"

"I kill and I'm no better than them, I go through that door and there's no coming out. Why is this so important to you?"

Now I'm the one who's quiet. It's not important to me per say, but he has the ability to stop all the bad that happens and he doesn't, just delays what's to come. This strong desire to vanquish evil comes from a life experience and not a particularly good one. Hey, it has to come from somewhere right?

A deep baritone brings me back to the present.

"Let's just drop the subject and get to Wayne Tech so you can stop all this nonsense"

"You fight in a bat costume against rogues with peculiar infatuations and you call moi a bag of nonsense? Ha, Bruce Wayne has a sense of humor in his noggin".

Dare I see the shadowy figure twitch at the mention of his identity?

"No bluffing huh?"

"Can't do it to save my life, might as well spill the truth. Throws off people sometimes y'know, telling the truth. Most would expect a lie, a half-assed lie, but nonetheless a lie. Really tells you something about society don't it?".

I'm staring out the tinted window; various structures of history pass on by. Gotham City may be dark, but the architecture of it all was hauntingly beautiful, from Gothic to Art Deco there wasn't a place like it.

A cloud blurs the distant city lights until I realize it's no fog, it smoke!

"hey something's burning over there…" I turn to look a Batman as he configures with the computer in the dash. Another set of controls broadcast the poilice radio frequency.

"it's a break in one of the Wayne chemical labs" he clarifies, " we're in for a little detour".

Before I could ask my inquiry to who was doing the breaking in, my back came into contact with the seat with force as the batmobile launched into a powerful throttle.

I want to scream, to tell him to slow down. Oohhh speeding makes me nervous, did I mention I want to scream? I'm gonna have a heart attack! Oh god, am I having a seizure? No, nope wait, that's just the lights speeing on by…haha…I feel as if I'm in the USS Enterprise on warp 6.

Suddenly…HALT!

Again I collide with my seat, "oopf!" then *swooh*, cue in cold air, Batman jumps out with his cape bellowing behind.

"Stay" pause "HERE", point and squint "you leave I WILL find you". With that he grapples to the roof of a building, reeling into the air and out the creepy dark alley he had stashed us in.

Stay here? Was he insane, ha, of course he was. I'll stay, but I need to stretch my legs, I'm getting that prickly feeling when your appendage falls asleep, it hurts and tickles at the same time. One foot on the seat and I haul my ass out the confined vehicle. So then here's what happens: I'm stretching like I said I would, then *BOOM!**BAM!**KabOOM!* explosions ect, ect….the ground shakes ever slightly annnnd I lock myself out the batmobile. Yup…what the hell right? Are you kidding me! I didn't even touch anything!

"open up you stupid thing!" *bang**knack**clank* I am slamming my fist on the damn thing and you know what it does? It covers itself up, like some medieval armor. Must be a defense mechanism or something, even the wheels are locked and bolted. This thing ain't budging.

"Fantastic, I'm locked outside and it's COLD! He must have planned this, wouldn't be surprised if he were on a roof top looking down on me and laughing…what a jerk"

I can practically feel the heat of the explosion out the alleyway, wouldn't hurt to peek now would it? Better than staying here.

"hold the phone…" what do you know, the Wayne Tech building was right next door to the chemical labs…about a couple blocks away,but still pretty close. Kinda. I could make if over there while ol' batboy is occupied. The quicker I get there the sooner I get home. But wait! There's no guarantee there will be a way home. Please hold while I load the mental gun: *click-BAng!* drop dead you inner voice of reason, I have no time for contemplations!

Walking, walking, walking, walking ever so close to the area in full swing of action. The Batman fighting some goons, only pawns, but where's the master? Making the get-a-way no doubt. The fire is large and warm, wish I had some marshmallows. Want some campfire songs to go with that? C'mon! keep focus, keep moving before you're noticed. But the wicks of flame are so beautiful, they're dancers that beckon me to come closer. They twist and flip, they merge, grow, and shrink before erupting like a geyser into the cool air then break apart in a floral image. ..oh! right keep moving.

"Maddie!"

Too late.

My hypnotized vision is sharpened and focused on the Batman waiting for the scolding to come.

"Behind you!"

Behind me? What kind of scolding is that? He sounded strained, there was quite a bit of distance between us, yet he sounded desperate.

I'm unaware of the danger surrounding me, like an idiot I stand there slow minded and perplexed as to why Batman was running towards me.

You always hear it as a description, that when you're overcome with surprise that time appears to slow down. I suppose this time is no different. Batman moved as if he were on the moon with his tattered cape spread behind like a backdrop, blocking the light of the fire and almost concealing his form.

I thought I was falling backwards; recollection of my first night causes my mind in a heap of panic, a pure terror.

Then I'm crushed against a soft, yet firm, surface and an arm makes itself snug against my neck. Something hits against my temple as I'm dragged backwards. Besides concentrating on allowing air through my windpipe I hear haggard breathing.

I'm not able to do anything except listen to the words exchanged by Batman and my captor. It's only hitting me now what kind of situation I fell into. Stupid, I should have never stopped walking, I blame the pretty fire.

"Let her go Crane, she's not part of your schemes"

I feel Crane's torso vibrate from his chuckling, that is never a good sign.

"Except to get you to BACK OFF" He drags me up and repositions the gun on my head for emphasis.

Can you believe I had a crush on this guy? Falling in love with an idea doesn't double for the actual thing. I have never been threatened with a gun so close to my face. I didn't dare move on my own accord.

"This won't end well for you" the Bat threatens.

The pressure against my throat tightened and I noise my discomfort.

"Neither for her!" we're moving back now.

I can't see Batman's face, my head is tilt upward and all I see the fire illuminated sky.

I hear running feet and hoped it was the police but it was only Crane's goons coming to assist after recovering from the beat-down Batman had given.

I'm handed over to a muscle-man and rudely thrown into a van and into the arms of yet another muscle man. Gun, once again at my temple. I sigh rather agitated; don't I ever get a break? Nope! I'm getting the royal treatment in Gotham City.

No sooner did Crane get in the passenger seat that Batman began charging towards the van. Crane lifted a detonator and the dark knight was sent violently hurling onto the street from the close proximity of the explosion, much to my horror. Then we were speeding down the road, sirens fading out as soon as they were heard.

I still wouldn't move, everything happened so quickly, I was having reruns in my head trying sorting out the details. The large canisters in the back clanked against each other from the turning and bumps on the road. A joyous laugh erupted from the front seat.

"Absolutely sssplendid!, not only was this the most successful heist, it was perfect, couldn't have gone better…" he twist his lanky frame to look back at me. "all thanks…to YOU, had you not shown up the bat would have surly won. It seems there is, after all, a purpose for the fools in this world". More laughing.

Yeah? Well keep laughing you freak, because I'm not of this world …yet, I've gotten myself into the most idiotic of situations.

"I've got my ingredients,I've got my toxins…and", There was sadistic glee in his cold blue orbs, "I've got a handy subject to test them on"

I hug myself in mock comfort and wanting to disappear. What do I do now?


End file.
